Liverpool Feb 16 2005

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:28 pm

My turn to relay a quick phone report from brother John. 35 song set, great form, started with Blue Chair, ended with Scarlet Tide, broke a string during Cain, sound a bit muddy at first, got better. John got all the lads autographs and was photographed with the main man. A fuller report will follow tomorrow .

John · Post by **John** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:10 pm

Just got home. What a great show. Elvis and the boys on top form.
We waited outside at the end for them to come out. Davey came first almost unnoticed. I was the first to get his autograph. He seemed really pleased to be noticed. Then Pete came out - what a nice man. Very chatty. Got his autograph. He asked me how the sound was, I said it was great, he was pleased. He said people didn't seem to know the new songs. I said they're not on the radio. He said that was a problem. Pete seemed to have lots of time for everyone.
Then Elvis came out - about 20 people queued for his autograph. He also was pleasant an had time for everyone. I thanked him for a great show and he said "Thank you very much". Steve had gone in the bus for something and then came back and us two Johns got to him first. He was quiet but pleasant also.
Got Elvis to sign the front of my ticket and the other three the back. I shook hands with all four also.
It was great to meet with John again. We eat Italian in Liverpool before the show.
John noted all 35 songs down as we went along. They did all Delivery Man except She's Pulling Out The Pin and The Judgement. Highlights for me were Blue Chair, In The Darkest Place, Roses, Heart Shaped Bruise.
Alan Bleasdale was there again and I think the Royal Court was full.
He played for about 2.5 hours finishing with a beautiful version of The Scarlet Tide - far better with Imposters.
Mrs John took some photos of us two Johns getting our autographs with johnfoyles camera.
John got a setlist, ripped a poster off a wall and is a walking Elvis encyclopaedia. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed his company.
Elvis had a chauffeur driven Rover waiting for him outside.
Elvis dedicated (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea to Steven Gerrard, blamed Emmylou's non appearance on Virgin Trains and told a long story about the writing of Our Liitle Angel after playing a gig in a lonely hearts club in Bold Street, Liverpool.
I'm sure John will file an in depth report on his return to Dublin although I think he'll be tired tomorrow - he's got to be up at 5!
I think the sound was great from the start, Elvis was in fine voice, seemed to pace himself more and didn't get as sweaty.
Non TDM tracks I can remember:-
Blue Chair
Uncomplicated
Mystery Dance
Blame It On Cain
Chelsea
Roses
Pump It Up
Olivers
Stand Up
High Fidelity
Shipbuiding
Cruel no2
You Turned
Darkest Place
DDTM + You Really Got A hold On Me
Hidden Charms
Detectives
Our Little Angel
Kinder Murder
Peace Love Understanding
Everyday I Write
+2 (help John)

Time for bed

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:38 pm

What a nice story about a "couple of Johns" enjoying an Elvis concert.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Glad you guys had a good time. We'll be waiting on even more details!

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:22 pm

John wrote:Elvis dedicated (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea to Steven Gerrard

You mean (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea Because Rabid Liverpool Supporters Have Been Sending Me Death Threats?

Sounds like a great show.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 1:57 am

Liverpool John Lennon Airport - 6.50 AM - waaaaay too early!
I'll tell all from Dublin later.

PlaythingOrPet · Post by **PlaythingOrPet** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:47 am

I'm so pissed off I couldn't go. Bah.

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:17 am

You mean your mate Mr Bleasdale didn't take you!

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:38 am

It was nice to hear them back in November in Sydney but so many of the same older songs are getting played night after night on this tour... the setlists seem a bit too predictable.

DrJ · Post by **DrJ** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:40 am

John Lennon Airport. Motto: Above Us Only Sky. No Joke.

DrJ

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:38 am

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/ente ... _page.html

Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Royal Court Theatre Feb 17 2005

By Adrian Butler, Daily Post

IT WAS as if he had been charging at the mains for 48 hours.

Elvis Costello bounded on stage, bounced around a bit, grabbed his guitar, bounced around a bit more, grabbed the microphone - and you knew here was a man with the energy of a class of eight-year-olds.

Dressed in orange specs, buttoned-up suit and pink tie, and looking like a cross between Bono and, well, Ronnie Corbett, Costello was beaming at the prospect of playing the city he grew up in.

Backing him were the three-piece Imposters and nine (yes, nine) guitars.

At one point, he looked to be yelling at someone offstage for not bringing him the right one. You felt sorry for the man - you'd need a Ph.D. in mid life crises to be able to tell them all apart.

But together, the 54 strings helped Costello's tight band knock out a meticulously rehearsed set.

It wasn't all easy going. Costello has always been his own man, so this was never going to be a run of greatest hits - in fact, it would have taken a die-hard fan to know every song that was played.

But there were plenty of lyrics we all knew. Classics like Oliver's Army, (I don't want to go to) Chelsea and Watching the Detectives came every 10 minutes or so and the audience loved them.

Then something unique happened. As Costello started playing Shipbuilding, the hall went silent.

One by one the crowd started singing along, until you knew that everyone have written the song out from memory.

It was a special night for Costello, and you could still hear his scouse accent as he told the audience how his band has started off playing in a singles bar where they were ignored.

"This is a song from a record called The Delivery Man," he began, about to play a song from his latest album.

"Five pints of gold top please!" someone from the second row shouted out.

"I've waited all this time to come to Liverpool to hear that joke," said Costello

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:45 am

johnfoyle wrote:But together, the 54 strings helped Costello's tight band knock out a meticulously rehearsed set.

Actually, doesn't one of Elvis' guitars only have 4 strings? And it's good to see Elvis didn't break any strings

And a cross between Bono and Ronnie Corbett? Hmm...

John · Post by **John** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:48 am

He did break a string at the beginning of Blaim It On Cain.
Come on, John, bring some order to my setlist!

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:52 am

So he did - sorry John. I make that 51 strings then (unless the four string guitar wasn't there)

John · Post by **John** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:59 am

Too many people talking during the show was a bit annoying and a bloke near us finished Shipbuilding off too quickly and too loudly. Only 2 negatives on an otherwise brilliant night.

£8 for a programme, £6 for a mug etc. I was too tight to purchase but johnfoyle kept the profits healthy!

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:02 am

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:09 am

These setlists are truly getting a bit stale. I'm really hoping he shakes things up a bit at the Ryman. He seems to feel special there, and the music certainly fits the venue and the city - I'm hoping he actually drags a guest or two with him.

**fingers crossed**

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:50 am

Setlist

1. Blue Chair
2. Uncomplicated
3. The Name Of This Thing Is Not Love
4. Mystery Dance
5. Everyday I Write The Book
6. Button My Lip
7. Country Darkness
8. Needle Time
9. Hidden Shame
10. Blame It On Cain
11. Either Side Of The Same Town
12. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
13. Good Year For The Roses
14. Heart Shaped Bruise
15. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror/ You Really Got A Hold On Me
16. Our Little Angel
17. Kinder Murder
18. In The Darkest Place
19. You Turned To Me
20. When I Was Cruel #2
21. Watching The Detectives
22. The Delivery Man
23. Monkey To Man
24. Hidden Charms
25. There's A Story In Your Voice
26. I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
27. High Fidelity
28. Pump It Up
29. Nothing Clings Like Ivy
30. Shipbuilding
31. Bedlam
32.(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?
33.Oliver's Army
34.The Scarlet Tide

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:52 am

Doesn't sound stale to me!

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:54 am

martinfoyle wrote: ...
7. Blame It On Cain
...
10. Blame It On Cain
...

Surely not?

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:01 am

That's what you get for relying too much on copying and pasting, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

John · Post by **John** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:06 am

Do I sense an original miscount by Mr Foyle (J). I thought that was an American thing.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:53 am

Given that a third of the UK set is the new album and there are quite a few songs he's playing almost every night eg Hidden Charms, Blue Chair, Uncomplicated, Good Year for the Roses, Shipbuilding, Chelsea, Detectives, Kinder Murder, WIWC, Pump It Up and PLU, it doesn't leave a lot of room to vary the set list. But he does seem to be changing 6 or 7 songs a night. Most people would be happy with that. How many other bands do that?

John · Post by **John** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 2:27 pm

johnfoyle wrote:(Daily Post review)
1 At one point, he looked to be yelling at someone offstage for not bringing him the right one. You felt sorry for the man - you'd need a Ph.D. in mid life crises to be able to tell them all apart.
2 But together, the 54 strings helped Costello's tight band knock out a meticulously rehearsed set.
3 it would have taken a die-hard fan to know every song that was played.
4 everyone have written the song out from memory.
5 "Five pints of gold top please!" someone from the second row shouted out.

1 I think he made that up. His guitar man (Milo, is it?) seemed very relaxed and knew exactly what he was doing. He replace the broken string in no time.
2 Not meticulously rehearsed at all. You could see Elvis turn to either Steve or Pete quite often at the end of track to give instructions for the next.
3 Hardly
4 Huh?
5 The guy shouted "An extra pint of gold top please" and was in the standing area. This, of course, refers to asking your milkman to bring an extra pint of full cream milk. This is maybe a little old-fashioned now (although we still have our milk delivered) and Elvis replied "You're showing your age" and continued "and I'm showing mine".

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:01 pm

Thanks to John and Mrs John for their great company during my trip to Liverpool ( and thanks to Martin for scanning stuff and typing up my setlist as I caught up with things at work).

I have little to add to the above accounts. Elvis gave a great show , a vast improvement on Glasgow last October. He and the band showed all the strengths of being on the road and their act getting tighter and tighter. The pacing of the show was excellent. Gone are the ridiculous 'Good night' s etc after an hour when we all knew it was only half way there. Seeing all the songs together makes them all the more interesting , without the silly few minutes of wondering what he'll come up with next to break the flow.

The above poster for the show was in the downstairs bar -

- where it was a rather poor contrast Pink Floyd /Queen tribute acts . I guess they didn't really feel the need to sell the show.

The outside signs were similarly understated -

Getting all of the autographs afterwards was fun. Davey , Pete and Steve seemed genuinely impressed that we wanted to talk to them. Davey was first out , then Pete ,then Elvis and finally Steve. The few dozen of us were simply spoiled for choice. At one instance I found myself turning around - after chatting with Steve - and realising that Elvis was still talking with someone a feet away. I had already had a brief moment with him and found myself thinking 'Oh , him again...' or something. I mean , Elvis a few feet away and I'm not thinking much of it.

Mrs John took all the following photos -

I'm waiting my turn --

............and he gets to me -

Our conversation was a brief 'Hi' , he signs , I say 'Thanks , Elvis' and replies 'Sure , mate' with a smile and moves on to the others.

Phew ! Intellectual , or what !?!?

He was quiet animated chatting with this lady ( her face is to the right in my 'approach' photo) -

I spent the afternoon before the show walking all over Birkenhead and West Derby , home to teenage Elvis. But thats a story for another day.......

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:08 pm

Good stuff! No pics of anyone else?